Cross-party delegation offers strong support for Armenia at crucial time
From 12 to 15 February 2024, I led a delegation of six members to Armenia. I previously led a BGIPU delegation there exactly ten years before and Jessica Morden MP had visited last year with the APPG. For the other members, Judith Cummins MP, Dr Rupa Huq MP, Carol Monaghan MP and Lord McInnes, it was their first visit.
Our visit came not long after the offensive launched by Azerbaijan in September 2023, which resulted in the retaking of Nagorno Karabakh, a territory within the borders of Azerbaijan but which had been populated by ethnic Armenians. The latter were forcibly expelled and some 100,000 are now refugees living in Armenia. This issue and what the Armenian Government saw as the continuing threat to Armenia itself from Azerbaijan, dominated our visit. It also heavily influenced the attitude of Armenia to Russia, which had failed to provide any support to Armenia despite their membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Russia’s version of NATO.
We began our visit by meeting Members of the UK friendship group in the National Assembly, led by Sargis Khandanyan MP who also chairs the Foreign Relations Committee. They focussed on the Government’s Crossroads of Peace Plan to reach a settlement with Azerbaijan. However, this was strongly opposed at the next meeting we had with Opposition MPs as it accepts that Nagorno Karabakh will remain part of Azerbaijan. We also had meetings with the Defence Minister, Suren Papikyan, to discuss the security situation and with the Economics Minister, Vahan Kerobian, although the latter resigned his position the following day due to a corruption investigation. We had further meetings with the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonian, as well as lunch with the Deputy Foreign Minister, Paruyr Hovhannisyan. All stressed their wish to move away from Russia and to strengthen their links with Europe and the West. The fragility of the current ceasefire was also shown by a border incident while we were in Yerevan which resulted in the killing of four Armenian soldiers, although the Azeris claimed that this had followed provocation.
While in Yerevan we also visited and laid flowers at the Genocide Memorial in Tsitsernakaberd, which is a compulsory stop for almost all international visitors, and visited the Wigmore Women and Children’s Hospital which is supported by the British Embassy and funded from the UK. The delegation were also taken to Jermuk to meet refugees from Nagorno Karabakh. We heard from the Governor and Mayor about the challenges of integrating them and then from the refugees themselves who described their experiences in the most moving terms. All of us were deeply affected by this and it left a lasting impression. After trying the spa waters for which Jermuk is famous, we were then taken to the still snow-covered ridge overlooking the town by the Armenian Military to be shown the area of Armenian territory still under Azeri occupation.
We were also very much aware that Armenia is the oldest Christian country in the world with a wonderful heritage. En route to Jermuk, we stopped at the 13th century Noravank monastery and then went to Etchmiadzin Cathedral where we were privileged to have an audience with the Catholicos, His Holiness Karekin II who spoke of the destruction of Armenian churches being carried out in Nagorno Karabakh.
Our visit to Armenia came at a pivotal moment for the country and was hugely instructive for us all. We are very grateful to the IPU branch of the National Assembly for their fantastic hospitality, and to Rick Nimmo and Joe Perry who organised our trip and shepherded us throughout. We were also accompanied to most of our meetings by the British Ambassador, HMA John Gallagher, and by the Armenian Ambassador to the UK, HE Varuzhan Nersesyan, both of whom provided invaluable assistance.
UK delegation visits the National Assembly of Armenia
Among a range of high level meetings, the UK delegation met the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan
The UK delegation toured the area and met displaced people from Nagorno Karabakh while visiting Jermuk, a town adjacent to the border with Azerbaijan
